Wednesday, May 29, 2013

It seems a couple of peregrine falcons decided they wanted to learn more about the rule of law when they picked the Wood County Courthouse as their home. They’ve lived there for the past three years, and each year they’ve nested in the clock tower on the north side of the courthouse and hatched baby falcons.

While they are moving around a lot, you can try to get a glimpse of the baby falcons on this webcam, and there are photos at the bottom of the page.

A couple of weeks ago, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Division banded the baby falcons so they can be tracked and monitored when they move into a home of their own in August or September. ODNR employees said their parents chose the courthouse because of its height. They said falcons hunt while in flight, so the tall courthouse was a perfect place for them to make their home.

Andrew Kalmar is the court’s administrator. He said the falcons have become a mascot for Wood County court employees. He said the webcam helps them watch the falcons grow up.

Monday, May 13, 2013

You are never too young to think about justice.Have you ever heard someone bullying another?Seen an animal being abused?Watched property being trashed?If you aren’t an adult yet, can you do anything about things that are wrong?Sometimes it takes only a little suggestion to help make the world a better place.

Take a look at Ohio middle school students in these pictures. These activists are trying to tackle tough-to-talk-about problems such as bullying, pregnancy, homelessness, and domestic violence. They, along with more than 150 other students, had the chance to showcase their solutions at the 19th annual Youth for Justice Summit in Columbus sponsored by the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education.

Youth for Justice is designed to empower young people to be actively engaged citizensworking together to make a positive difference in their communities. Students identify a problem relevant to them, then develop and implement solutions.This idea can be useful at your school, too.

Let’s give congratulations to the four teams who received the Outstanding Project Award:

“Fighting Bullying,” Greensview Elementary School

(Upper Arlington)

“Relax, Refresh, Respect,” Pleasant Street Elementary

(Mt. Vernon)

“Domestic Violence,” St. Francis School (Cleveland)

“Positive Role Models,” Heritage Middle School (East Cleveland)

And, ‘Good Job!’ to the students from Collinwood High School and Botkins Elementary School.They received the Youth for Justice Implementation Grant.This was the first time schools were awarded money to help start up their projects at their own schools.

Botkins students will spread awareness of bullying by distributing “no bullying” frisbees at their school track and field day. Collinwood students plan to design team shirts to wear when they give presentations about the important issue of teen pregnancy prevention. As all these students tell us, it’s never too early to advocate for justice.

Students from Collinwood High School in Cleveland whose project was titled: “RAP: Railroaders Against Teen Pregnancy.”